School cleans up at Peacemakers Awards

A CARMARTHENSHIRE school has cleaned up at the Young Peacemakers Awards.

Organised by the Welsh Centre for International Affairs (WCIA), the Young Peacemakers Awards celebrate young people who have contributed to peace and global citizenship.

Ysgol Dyffryn Aman has been awarded overall first prize as Young Peacemaker of the Year, with pupils Magda Smith and Sam Barrett winning Young Global Citizen of the Year and Young Global Analyst of the Year.

Dyffryn Aman will be the first school to be awarded the new Peace Trophy, a beautiful metal dove sculpted by artist David Petersen.

Due to Covid-19, this year’s Young

Peacemakers Awards took place online, with the winners of the different categories announced during a virtual ceremony as part of Llangollen (International Eisteddfod) Online.

Both Magda and Sam are a major driving force behind the school’s Eco Council and sustainability issues within the school.

Year 9 pupil Magda has raised awareness about issues such as single-use plastic and climate change, both within the school, through assemblies to year groups and workshops to primary schools, and outside of school by helping to organise a beach clean for ‘Surfers Against Sewage’ and presenting in county workshops/conferences and organising strikes for climate change.

Similarly, Sam, from Year 10, has raised awareness about climate change in the school and through extensive independent work including organising strikes and presenting in many county workshops/conferences in Carmarthenshire and Swansea. He has also lobbied politicians and councillors to do more to mitigate the effects of climate change.

Executive board member for education and children’s services, Councillor Glynog Davies, said: “I would like to congratulate Ysgol Dyffryn Aman for winning this prestigious award and especially Magda and Sam for their awards in recognition of their outstanding work in relation to climate change and other environmental issues. Well done.”